GOING OUT

HOT TICKET

The tax man comsth, and Dave’s Art Pawn Shop owner Chumley Hawkins is looking for support so ha can keep the doors to his eclectic coffeehouseIn Deep Ellum open. Hawkinns has asked his friends from all over the entertainment world to help him out during hia “Save Dave’s Grounds” benefit, Feb. 15-17. The fun begins Friday night at 6 p.m. and continues through Sunday night. 2544 Elm St. For info, call 521-1040.

GOOD EGGS

MUSIC The Dixie Chicks, a quartet of women who sing cowgirl songs, have stirred the feathers of the local music industry. What’s all the clucking about? Well, their musk has a one-sound-fits-all-ages appeal, blending country, bluegrass, and swing with a hip wholesomeness. They’ve opened for bluegrass king Bill Monroe, as well as lots of country folk, and their recording, “Thank Heavens for Dale Evans,” has taken off on local radio The foursome, sisters Emilie and Martie Erwin, Robin Macy, and Laura Lynch, are thrilled with their good fortune. “This is a little Red Hen operation,” says Macy. “We take care of all our own business. Now everyone wants to be a part of it.” -Lisa Taylor

Escape to St. John

GETAWAY Since Columbus, explorers have searched for the perfect tropical isle. Perhaps the one that comes closest is beautiful, unspoiled St. John in the U.S. Virgins.

What’s so great about St. John? You’ll find out right away if you arrive by commercial air, touching down in St. Thomas and then taxiing across this congested, seriously ugly island to the ferry at Red Hook. By contrast, St. John-only 15 sea minutes away-gives plenty of room to breathe and plenty of gorgeous sights of sand, water, and greenery.

Plan on checking into the Hyatt Regency St. John (800-233-1234) at Great Cruz Bay. The first new hotel built on the island in more than three decades, it spreads its 285 rooms, suites, and town-houses across 55 acres, lustily landscaped with scarlet and purple bougaivillea. It’s so snugly self-contained that you may never want to leave. But do-pack a picnic lunch for a near-perfect time at Trunk Bay, one of the Caribbean’s most memorable white-sand beaches; tour the ruins of Annaberg, the 18th century sugar plantation; browse the shops at Mongoose Junction in the ramshackle village of Cruz Bay; or take a day trip by ferry to one of the neighboring British Virgins.

-Derro Evans

PRIMAL THINGS

Run, don’t walk to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth’s exhibit, A Primal Spirit: Ten Contemporary Japanese Sculptors, Constructed of natural materials, these works evoke the spirit of nature, with a distinctly Japanese point-of-view. For more info, call (817) 738-9215.

Late-Night Dallas

AFTER HOURS Eat, drink, and be merry, for at 2 a.m., it’s all over. But for night owls who want the fun to go on, it doesn’t have to stop.

For example, what about a few games of bowling at Don Carter’s All Star Lanes, 6343 E. Northwest Hwy., or 10920 Composite. Or how about bingo? Super Bingo, 4920 Ross Ave., stays open as late as there are players. For billiards, check out Speed’s, 9770 Forest Lane, or 11111 Kingsley Road.

If you’re in the mood to dance, the hopping spots in Deep Ellum after 2 a.m. are Industry, 2920 Canton; One, 3025 Main; Aqua Lounge, 2815 Main; 2826, 2826 Main; Institute, 2727 Canton; and Club Clearview, 2806 Elm.

For late night musical entertainment, there’s live jazz every weekend with the Marchel Ivery Quartet at the Green Parrot, 1908 Martin Luther King Blvd., and jazz late-night Saturday at RJ’s By The Lake, 3100 W. Northwest Hwy. In Deep Ellum, Dave’s Art Pawn Shop, 2544 Elm, offers local original music.

For the late-night munchies, you can always depend on Guadalajara, 4405 Ross, Forbidden City, 5920 Belt Line, Dan’s Lakewood Cafe, 2111 Abrams, or Roscoe’s Easy Way, 5420 Lemmon.

-Lisa Taylor

A REALLY GOOD SHOWGarrison Keillor hosts a live performance of “American Radio Company,” his national radio variety show, at the Bronco Bowl, Feb. 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. Presented by KERA 90.1, tickets are $21 for and $26 for non-members. Call Rainbow Ticketmaster at 787-1500.

A Visual Feast of Indonesian Art

Art Spiritual offerings-five kinds of flowers and a pinch of tobacco-will sit before some of the glorious objects in “The Court Arts of Indonesia” exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art (February 10-April 7). Ms. Helen Jessup, the British trained art historian who assembled the show, promised sultans, princes, and high-ranking Indonesians she would provide spiritual sustenance as well as physical safety for the sacred crowns, ritual vessels, puppets, weapons, jewels, sculptures, and textiles they lent to this major exhibition of Indonesian art and culture. “These things are symbols of spiritual beliefs and cultural values,” she said, “We had to agree to protect their spiritual as well as physical safety”

The exhibit, which will tour the United Stales for the next year as part of the Festival of Indonesia, a nationwide celebration of the performing and fine arts of Indonesia, brings together for the first time sacred objects from the various courts and palaces of the 13,700-island archipelago. More than half the 157 objects in the show have not been seen in public before.

Rare 19th century wood sculptures representing the goddess of rice and fertility and her consort normally sit in front of a ceremonial marriage bed. The spiritual center of all Javanese homes, the bridal couples guarantee stability and prosperity. The exhibition also includes a dozen kris, glorious daggers infused with potent spirits that affect power, sexuality, and harmony.

This astounding visual feast of exquisite craftsmanship offers visitors a rare glimpse into the spiritual world that continues to underlie much of Indonesian life, even in the modern republic. -Victoria Butler

The Big Beat of the Kodo Drummers

SOUND We’ve heard the Kodo drummers have lightened up a little-but not on their 900-pound “O-Daiko” or on any of their other handmade “taiko” drums. No, they’ve been spotted smiling occasionally. Whether it’s because the world is bending to their will or things have gotten a little less Spartan on Sado Island in the Sea of Japan, where they live-no matter.

Since 1975, when they ran the Boston Marathon and played a concert at the finish line, the global drummers have blended ritual pageantry, dance, athletic distinction, and music to transfix audiences wherever they go. Two Dallas performances in 1989 were sold out, leaving pent-up demand for the Big Beat in Big D. Since then Kodo has repeated its previous sellouts in London at Sadler’s Wells Theatre and New York City’s City Center Theater, among other venues. Their performances send critics to the dictionary for adjectives. Kodo means both “heartbeat” and ’’Children of the Drum” in Japan, where in ancient times the size of a village was determined by the sound waves of the taiko drum. Here in the U.S. we have chambers of commerce, and they shuffle to the beat of different drummers. Tickets for the February 7 and 8 performances at SMU’s McFarlin Auditorium can be arranged through TITAS at 528-5576. -Michael Pellecchia